COACH KNIGHT ON CONCENTRATION

"The most important thing in coaching is getting kids to concentrate."

-Bob Knight

Concentration leads to...
   ...Anticipation, which leads to
      ...Recognition, which leads to
         ...Execution, which leads to
            ...Completion

ONE MINUTE ASSESSMENTS

This is something we got from Coach Don Meyer and it should be developed by all coaches.  It is a simple yet incredibly effective way to correct and improve a player/team in a positive fashion.  Coach Meyer refers to it as "One Minute Assessments."  During this short duration, you should...

...tell a player 1 thing YOU did well and WHY

then

...tell that player 1 thing WE can do better and HOW

Q&A WITH STEPHANIE ZONARS (AND SOME OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS)

In case you missed it, I did a Q&A with Stephanie Zonars for her outstanding website "Life Beyond Sport." Here is what it looked like:

After 25 seasons at LSU (13 as part of the women’s basketball coaching staff) and a season at UCF, Bob Starkey begins his first season with the Texas A&M Aggies. Bob helped guide LSU to four SEC Championships, 12 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, eight Sweet 16s, seven Elite Eights and five consecutive trips to the Final Four. He was a key component in the Lady Tigers’ outstanding record of 326-105 (.756) from 1998-2011. Bob passionately serves and resources the coaching community through his blog. You can also follow him on Twitter.

You’ve worked under coaching legends like Dale Brown, Sue Gunter, Van Chancellor and now Gary Blair. What are a few of the qualities that set successful coaches like them apart?

The one common denominator was the importance of the relationships that we develop—putting the student-athlete first, even beyond winning and losing—makes the difference in a long-term successful program. The other thing that was consistent among them was the ability to not just handle adversity but to enthusiastically look upon setbacks as great challenges that ultimately test us. The coaches that I’ve been fortunate enough to work for have stood the test of time and I believe a big reason has been they care about people and love challenges.

As an avid reader, what books do you recommend to coaches as “must reads”?

•The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey (I think this is a life changing book and I recommend it at every clinic that I speak)

•The Art of War by Sun Tzu (James Clavell edit is my favorite)

•360 Degree Leadership by John C. Maxwell (one of the best leadership books for assistant coaches)

•The Art of Living by Wilferd Peterson (my first gift from Dale Brown)

•Goals! by Brian Tracy (one of the best on this subject)

•Finding A Way To Win by Bill Parcells (great blueprint to his success)

•The Carolina Way by Dean Smith (The Carolina value system)

•Finding The Winning Edge by Bill Walsh (love this one – but it’s hard to find)

•The Gold Standard by Mike Krzyzewski (great look into how he molded the Olympic Team)

•The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon (also loved "Training Camp" by Jon)

•Today Matters by John C. Maxwell (great book to understanding the importance of today)

•Time Power by Brian Tracy (the best organizational book I’ve read)

•First Things First by Stephen Covey (another great organization book)

•How Lucky Can You Be: The Story of Don Meyer by Buster Olney (great book about a great coach)

What’s the best advice you received from a coaching mentor that impacts how you coach today?

Dale Brown taught me early and often that coaching basketball was simply a means to develop young people and make an impact on your community and society. Certainly we have to win enough games to keep our jobs to be part of this great process but Coach Brown believed that “winning” was molding the young people that we came in contact with—not just on the court, but in the classroom and in life as well.

BASKETBALL THOUGHTS FROM PETE GAUDET

Find good things to break down a defense.  Break the whole defense down, then find ways to allow an individual to break his defender down.

The "Five R's of Posting" --
Run (the floor)
Rebound (post players ticket into the game)
Rooting out (post up)
Rotate & Recover (defensive)
Relocate (with and without the ball)

You never need more than two dribbles unless you are a point guard.

The ability to back up with a dribble and change directions is a skill not many have.

Not many players can properly feed the post.

Push the ball up the floor then decide you don't want to fast break as opposed to walking the ball up and then wishing you would've have pushed the ball.

FALL CLINIC DATES

I'm both honored and excited to be speaking at a couple of clinics in Texas this fall.  Not only do I get to share some of our thoughts on basketball and growing this great game, but it allows me to continue to meet some of the outstanding coaches in our state and surrounding areas.

KINGWOOD PARK COACHES CLINIC
September 15, 2012

Speakers: Brendan Suhr, Kevin McHale, Dominic Amorosa and Bob Starkey

Besides being able to speak in the Houston area on this weekend, I look forward to spending some time with my friend Brendan Suhr.  Brendan was a long-time assistant coach under Chuck Daly during the dynasty years with the Detroit Pistons.  If you are looking to add or improve upon the pick and roll in your offense -- no one is better than Brendan.  Of course, Brendan also teams up with Kevin Eastman to put on Coaching U Live each summer -- so he certainly knows what goes into a great clinic.  As a life-long Celtic fan, I will also look forward to hearing Kevin McHale. My friend Justin Burleson puts the clinic on each year and does an incredible job.

Here is a link for more information:
 http://www.humbleisd.net/Page/24600


DALLAS BASKETBALL COACHING WORKSHOP
October 6, 2012

Speakers: Fran Fraschilla, Bob Hill, Danny Henderson, Jarred Samples, Matt Grahn, and Bob Starkey

Again, it's a great opportunity to talk basketball but I'm excited about getting up in the Dallas area to meet some of the great coaches of that area.  I can tell you I'm also excited about learning from the other speakers as well.  Coach Fraschilla has won at every level of the college game and now does such a great job on ESPN.  He's one of those guys on TV that coaches want to hear because he actually teaches as he does the broadcast.  Bob Hill's been successful on the collegiate and NBA level.  My friend Matt Grahn puts this clinic on and it is a passion of his to make sure it is an outstanding day.

Here is a link for more information:
http://coachgbasketball.blogspot.com/p/2012-dallas-basketball-coaching-workshop.html

Registration: http://coachgbasketball.blogspot.com/p/dallas-basketball-coaching-workshop.html

LAWRENCE FRANK ON PROCESS AND ROLES

Here's a couple of great thoughts I got from Lawrence Frank at Coaching U Live this summer in Washington D.C.  Granted I had over 20 pages of notes from his two sessions but here are just a few that I'll share.  I don't mean to be redundant, but if you can at all possibly swing it, find your way to Coaching U Live next summer!

As a process oriented coach, I loved this thought:

"Don't let the wins and losses get in your eyes."

"We will be at our best when times are at their worst because of our habits, attitude and chemistry."

In regard to your philosophy and system of play:

"It not enough to verbalize.  Put it in writing -- be transparent."

"Everyone has problems.  Who's causing them and how do you handle it."

"What are your non-negotiables...offensively...defensively...in regard to your culture."

In regard to roles:

"If you can add value, they will listen."

"It is not enough for a player know his role...he must buy in."

Coach Franks also said this about roles:
     1. Entire team must know every one's roles
     2. 5 things -- 1st is always defense
     3. Laminated in their lockers

DO YOU HAVE A MASTER PRACTICE PLAN?

I was going through some old practice stuff this morning and came across and thought basketball coaches out there might enjoy it or get some benefit from it as we head into the fall.  The idea of the Master Practice Plan came to me from my college days taking a basketball coaching class at Marshall University from the late Stu Aberdeen.  Coach Aberdeen shared The Herd's Master Practice Plan with us and it left a mark with me as something I would want to do when I started coaching.  The one attached here actually comes from my LSU days.  Click on the image to enlarge it.

Each year, our staff takes some time to look at our team and what we feel we need to do to be successful. Our program has a system of play and we rarely deviate from that system. However, we do add wrinkles each year based upon the make-up of our team and the schedule we play.

One of the best organizational tools we have developed is the Master Practice Plan. We print it on card stock, front and back.

On the front side is our master list of everything we want to put in with our team. It is very detailed in all facets of the game. Under offense, we include our man-to-man offense, our zone attack, transition, and press offense. On the defensive side, we have transition defense, man-to-man defense, zone defense and our pressing system. A third category covers all of our special situations.

On the back sheet is a calendar that generally takes us through the first seven weeks of our season. It lists when and where we practice, and most importantly, the objective for the day in terms of installing our system. Everything listed on the front page is now placed strategically on the calendar to insure that we get in everything in a timely fashion. This is not to say that we never veer from this calendar but it certainly is a great tool for keeping us organized.

COLIN POWELL: SOLVING PROBLEMS IS WHAT LEADERS DO

I've lived by the proposition that solving problems is what leaders do.  The day you are not solving problems you are no longer leading. If your desk is clean and no one is bringing you a problem, you should be very worried.  It means that people don't think you can solve them or don't want to hear about them.  Or, far worse, it means they don't think you care.

So go walk around and look for a problem' you will find some.  Don't stop there.  Try to instill a problem-solving attitude in your subordinates and staff.

Problems have to be solved, not managed.  You can't get away with burying them, minimizing them, reorganizing around them, softening them, or assigning blame somewhere outside your responsibility.  You have to make real and effective change.

From "It Worked For Me" by Colin Powell

GREAT RECRUITING IS IN THE DETAILS (AND THE HOURS)

Big thanks to Joey Burton for sharing this article on Nick Saban and the science of recruiting as he has set it up at Alabama.  The article comes from the Wall Street Journal and was written by Rachel Bachman and Ben Cohen:

The stunning volume of victories and championships and NFL draft picks has Alabama redefining college-football success as we know it. How, exactly, does the Tide do it?

Recruiting is paramount. Saban sets aside time every day for assistant coaches to make phone calls, write letters and discuss the country's best blue-chippers. His system focuses on collecting reliable, exhaustive information on players—not always easy to find when NCAA rules forbid coaches from measuring players' vertical leaps or timing them in the 40-yard dash.
To make up for those restrictions, Alabama's coaching staff is as strict as any in the country about gathering information, recruiting experts say. Crimson Tide coaches consult track times and encourage prospects to add the sport in the football off-season. Coaches invite prospects to attend Alabama's summer camp, since they tend to offer scholarships to high-schoolers they have seen in person and not just on highlights.

And before Alabama recruits a player in earnest, coaches produce a comprehensive report on everything from whether he fits their preferred physical prototypes—a cornerback should be about 6 feet and 185-190 pounds—to his ankle, knee and hip movement. If a lineman's heels are raised when he is crouched in a stance, he is probably too inflexible for Alabama.

Finally, coaches talk to family, friends and others to go "seven-deep into a guy's life" to gauge his mental strength, said former Alabama offensive coordinator Jim McElwain, who is now the head coach at Colorado State.

Saban also embraces technology for his multipronged pitch. He started using videoconferencing as a recruiting tool several years ago—early enough in the software's life that some players spoke to him using equipment at their local libraries. CoachSaban.net, Saban's website, plays a Crimson Tide-themed hip-hop song called "4th Quarter" from the Tuscaloosa group 63 Boyz that features the lyric, "Since we landed Saban in T-Town, it's hard to go unnoticed."

Even Saban's current players are foot soldiers in college football's recruiting war. Cooper Bateman, a top-ranked quarterback from Utah, took a tour of SEC schools in the spring before he committed to Alabama. What stood out to his family during his visit? All of Alabama's players made sure they took off their hats when meeting his mother.

"He's incredibly honest in the recruiting process," said former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy, the starter on the 2009 national-title team who now plays for the New York Jets. "He tells kids, 'Hey, you're going to come in and redshirt. Look, you're going to do this. You're going to do that.' He tells them exactly what he thinks. I think a lot of people respect that because so much of the recruiting process is an unknown."

Read the entire article here.

A FEW JON GORDON THOUGHTS FROM COACHING U LIVE

I took a few minutes this morning to review 7 pages of notes that I took from Jon Gordon's message that he shared with us at Coaching U Live this summer.  I will share a few of the points that really grabbed me but I would also take this time to share with you three things that can help you as a coach:

1. Read Jon's books -- they have profound messages that will help you as a coach, a person as well as help your team.

2. Don't miss an opportunity to hear Jon speaks -- he speaks the way he writes: inspiring!

3. Make sure you attend Coaching U Live next year -- it is an amazing growing experience for you as a coach.

Some thoughts from Jon:

Always strive to be better.  And he shared the story of being at a seminar where Zig Ziglar was the headline speaker only to see him in the audience while others spoke.  Zig, at the age of 82 (at that time), and one of the true masters in his profession, was taking notes -- he was still looking to learn.

Past success does not determine future success.

My favorite from his talk: "Would you want to be coached by you?"

He quoted Kevin McHale: "Outwork your talents."

Culture drives behavior.
Behavior drives habits.
Habits drives strategy.

It's never to late to start creating a culture but it is always better to start in the beginning.

Being positive can be hard work.

My second favorite from his talk: "Every player brings a story with them.  It is our job to know that story."

You must win in the locker room before you can win on the court.

As I said, these are just a few of my 7 pages of notes...thanks Jon Gordon -- thanks Coach U Live!